Improvement in calendar-clocks



W. L. BUNDY. Calendar-Glock.

Patented Dec. 9,1879.

w w x d a UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIGE.

VILLARD L. BUNDY, OF AUBURN, NElV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CALENDAR-CLOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,377, dated December9, 1879; application liled March 1S, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD L. BUNDY, ot' Auburn, in the county ofCayuga and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Calendar-Clocks; and I hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reterence being hadto the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in

which- Figure l is a front view of a clock with its dial and case-doorremoved, and having my improved calendar attachment. Fig. 2 is avertical section ot' Fig. l through the minutewheel arbor. Fig. 3 is adetached perspective view of the calendar-operating lever, itssupporting-plate, the tripping-wheel, and its engaged pinion. Fig. 4 isa detached rear perspective view ot' the calendar -movement. Fig. 5shows a diametric section through the dayofthe-month-indicatingcylinders. Fig. 6 shows an end view of the actuating devices of thesecylinders. Fig. 7 is a diametric section throu ghday-of-the-month-indicati n g cylinders, made solid andA provided with aseparating sleeve between their respective shafts.

This invention relates to an improved calendar attachment for ordinaryclock-movements, its object bein gto enable the production ofcalendar-clocks at small cost.

Clocks indicating hours and minutes and the day ot1 the week and monthhave heretofore been ot a complicated character, the mechanism t'oroperatin g the day and date indicators being integral members of trainsof special construction, including also mean time movements. It is truethat much of the complexity of these clocks has been due to theintroduction ot' devices for making proper changes between months havingdiiierent numbers of days, and some have been provided with leap-yeartrips; but all, so far as I am aware, having any claim to reliability,have been so'eXpensive as to preclude their popular use.

By my invention any ordinary clock, at a very small expense, and withoutaltering the train, may be converted into a calendar-clock which willaccurately indicate the days ot' the week and month, in addition to itsprevious function as a time-keeper, the only care required, in additionto the usual winding, being that the calendar shall be changed tocommence properly at the beginning of each month.

The invention consists in the combination of a pivoted lever mounted ona plate adapted for attachment to the 'front plate ot' a clockframe, atoothed wheel journaled on the same plate with the lever, and having aprojection arranged to meet and swing or raise said lever at eachrevolution of the wheel, a calendar-movement mounted in a trame adaptedt'or attachment within a clock-case, and a suitable link connecting thecalendar-trip with the traveling end otl the lever, whereby at eachrevolution ot the wheel, when the parts are in position, the lever willbe swung on its pivot and the calendar-indica-tors changed from theindication of one day and date to another.

It consists, further, in the combination ofthe above-described mechanismwith an ordinary clock, having' on its hour-wheel sleeve a pinionengaging with the toothed wheel, and having a number of cogs equal tohalt` the number of the teeth of said wheel, the plate supporting whichis suitably' secured to the clockt'rame, while the frame cari-yin thecalendarindicators is secured to the interior ot' the clock-case at aproper point for operation when the lever is lifted.v

The hour-wheel sleeve making two revolu tions in twenty-four hours, itspinion will cause its engaged wheel, having double its number ot' teeth,to make one complete revolution in the same time, and at intervalstherefore of twenty-four hours, or one day, t-he projection or stud onsaid wheel will swing or raise one end ot' the lever, which, through itsconnecting-link, will operate the indicators ot' the calendar, trippingor revolving them to indicate one day ahead.

The invention also comprises an improved day and date indicatormovement, which will be hereinafter particularly described.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates a clockanovement ofordinary construction, secured, as usual, in a case, B'. To the frontplate c ot' this clock is [irmly secured by a single screw, a plate, G,to which is pivoted at d a lever, D, having its inner portion bent orformed to present a shoulder, c, used to raise it, while to its extremeinner end is attached loosely a rod, j', the lover end ot' which isconnected to the middle of a bar,pg, the opposite ends of which arerespectively connected, through suitable intermediate links, with theday-of'thc-week and day-of-the-m onvth indicators of the calendar G, aswill be more particularly described hereinafter.

Upon the plate C, below the inner portion of the lever D, a toothedwheel, II, is journaled, and is provided near its periphery with a studor pin, 71, projecting forward. This toothed wheel II meshes with apinion, I, which is mounted upon the sleeve f5 surrounding theminute-wheel arbor, and carrying the hour-wheel j. The number of cogs onthe pinion I is equal to half the number of teeth on wheel H. New, asthe sleeve t, which also carries the hour-hand, makes one revolution intwelve and two in twen ty-fo ur hours, the pinion I will once every dayor twenty-four hours cause the wheel II to make a complete revolution,and at every revolution of said wheel the stud or pin h will meet orstrike the inner portion of the lever D, lifting it as the wheelcontinues to turn until said stud passes the shoulder e, when the leverwill fall to its normal position. The distance of the stud h from thecenter of the wheel is such that the lever will be moved sufficiently totrip and revolve the calendar.

As the bar g is drawn upward by the lifting ofthe lever, it raisesthrough the links 2 the horizontal arms l l', the outer ends of whichare rigidly secured to vertical slides L L movin g in suitable guides,and provided with iirmlyattached springs bent outward and terminating inhooks, as shown at m, which engage the teeth of ratchet-wheels on theshafts of the indicating-cylinders.

The day-of-the-week indicator is a single cylinder, N, fixed on yacentral journal which has its bearings in arms w projecting from therear surface of the front plate G of the calendar. The end of the shaftnear the end of the front plate is provided with a ratchetwheel, a,having seven teeth, and on the surface are inscribed, longitudinally andat equal distances apart, the names of the seven days of the week. Inthe front plate, G', of the calendar is formed a window or slot, o,through which one of these day-names is visible, as Friday, in Fig. l,and the throw of the lever D is so regulated that its upward movementwill cause the spring-hook or slide -L to move the ratchet-wheel a thespace of one tooth, which communicates sufficient movement to thecylinder N to carry one day-name away from the window 0 and bringanother to view. The return of the slide L with its hook to engageanother tooth of the ratchet-wheel, is effected by a coiled spring, x,011e terminal. of which is secured to the arm l and the other to thefront plate, a spring-pawl, y, serving to prevent retrograde movementyof the ratchetwheel and to hold it steady.

The day-of-the-month or enumerating indicator consists of two shortcylinders, I) Q, arranged end to end. The cylinder Q is fixed indicatingthe tenth day of the month.

upon a shaft, i', mounted in the same manner as the shaft of theweek-day cylinder, but at the opposite end of the front plate, and isprovided with a ratchet-wheel, s, having eight teeth. The cylinder P issecured to a central sleeve, p, iitted loosely upon the shaft r, asshown in Fig. 5, or upon an intermediate stationary sleeve, p', as shownin Fig. 7. In either case this sleeve p is provided with aratchet-wheel, t, having ten teeth.

The ratchet-wheels s and t stand side by side, and the spring-hook m ofthe slide L extends across the edges of both, but owing to the greaterdiameter `of the wheel t, said hook is held away from the teeth of thewheel s, ex-

cept when itrests in a single notch, u, which is suiiiciently deeperthan all the other' notches of wheel t to permit the hook m to at thesame time engage a tooth of each wheel, and when it is moved upward it,of course, moves both cylinders I and Q.

Springpawls e e hold and steady the wheels s and t. 0n the cylinder I)is a peripheral series of numerals from 0 to 9 equidistant apart, and onthe periphery of cylinder Q the numerals l 2 3 are arranged at the samedistance apart as the numerals of the other cylinder; then a blank,followed again by the numerals l 2 3. The 0 of cylinder I) coincides inposition with the deep notch a of wheel s. A window, o', in the frontplate G', atl'ords a view of the numeral or numerals indicating anyparticular day ofthe month.

Now, supposing the calendar on the last day of the month to require tobe set by hand to show Monday at the window o and 1, at the window o thel should be on the cylinder P, and the cylinder Q should present a blankspace, its numeral l beingjust out of sight be low the edge of thewindow o.

Now, if the clock is wound up and set in the evening, for example, atten oelock, wit-h the stud h of the wheel H under the shoulder e oflever D, and holding said lever partly up, in a couple of hours it willhave passed said shoulder and have allowed the lever to drop and set theday on the calendar. The indicators will remain so set all next day,first of month, and at twelve oclock on the following night the leverwill again have been raised to its highest position, taking three orfour hours to be so raised according to the length of the shoulder c,the ratchet-wheels a and t will be moved one tooth, Tuesday appearatwindow 0, and the 2 of cylinder P at window o.

The complete changes of the calendar will take place in this mannerevery night at twelve until the name and number ot' the ninth day aredisplayed, and when the lever then falls the spring-hook m of slide Lwill rest in the deep notch a of the ratchet-wheel t, and will at thesame time en gage a tooth of the wheel s, so that on the night of theninth at twelve oclock both the wheels s and t will be moved 011evtooth, and the l of cylinderQ and the 0 of cylinder I) will be displayedat the window o', The

units of cylinder P will then be successively displayed in conjunctionwith the-1 of cylinder Q until the night of the nineteenth day, when the2 of said cylinder Q will appear in conjunction with the 0 of cylinderP, and so on until the end of the month, when the calendar must be againset by hand to begin the new month.

It will be observed that the changes of the calendar are madepositively, and by the power of the mainspring exerted through theclock-train, the springs a .t serving only to retract the slides afterthe change is made. The bar g, being loosely connected with the rod fand arms l l', serves as an equalizer of the lifting-power, so thatshould one indicator move less easily than the other no part of thecalendar-movement would be strained, as one slide could move in advanceof the other, that not affectillg theaccuracy of the indicator.

A small spring, 9'", coiled on shaft r, may be used to abutagainst oneof the supportingarms of the day-of-the-month cylinders, and exert ayielding pressure upon the hub of cylinder Q, to keep the two cylinderstogether and in proper position with relation to their window 0',- butto prevent the hollow shaft p of the cylinder P (that rotates ten timesmore than the shaft r) from carrying the shaft o by friction, I preferplacing a stationary sleeve, p' between said shafts, as shown in Fig. 7.This sleeve is retained stationary by an extension, p2, entering aperforation in the bearing of the shaft r.

The arms g attached to the front plate, Gf, have screw-holes in theirbent ends to receive screws, by which they may be secured to aclock-case, as shown in Fig. l.

Having now fully described my invention, and explained its constructionand operation, I claim- 1. The combination of a pivoted lever mounted onan il'ldependent plate adapted for attachment to the front plate of aclock-frame, a toothed wheel journaled on the same independent platewith said lever, and having a projection arranged to' strike and swingsaid lever at each revolution of the wheel, a calendar-movement havingall its indicators 011 the same horizontal line, the day-offth e-monthcylinders placed end to end, and mounted in a frame adapted forattachment within a clockcase, and a suitable link connecting thecalendar-trip with the traveling end of said lever, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with an ordinary clock having on its hour-wheelsleeve a pinion, I, of the toothed wheel H, mounted on an independentplate, aud having a projecting stud or projection,a lever,D, adapted tobe tripped by said stud or projection, a calendar-movement having theday-ofthe-month cylinders placed end to end and arranged in suitableposition, and rod or link connecting said lever with the trip of thecalendar-movement, substantially as described.

3. rPhe combination of the front plate, G, having suitable windows oropenings, the cylinders P and Q, mounted on shafts passing one throughthe other, and carrying ratchetwheels, the slides moving in suitableguides and provided with devices for turning said ratchet-wheels, and asuitable connection between said slides with a clock mechanism, anindependent plate, C, and a rod, f, substantially as described.

4. A calendar operating attachment for clocks consisting of theindependent plate C, lever D, pivoted to said plate, and toothed wheelH, having stud h, and journaled upon said plate in position forengagement with a pinion upon the hour-hand sleeve of a clockmovement,substantially as described.

5. 1n combination with the cylinder P having a hollow cylindrical shaft,p, and a cylinder, Q, having a central shaft, r, the stationary sleeve pinterposed between the shafts of said cylinders P and Q, substantiallyas and for the purpose specified.

VILLARD L. BUNDY.

Witnesses:

E. E. Masson, YV. B. Masson.

